It was a hot summer's day on the last day of school.

I pulled my bag over my shoulder and followed the masses as the last bell reverberated off of every wall in the building. It was almost as if it was trying to mirror the inner voices of the students that were trapped there- silent screams made audible, wanting nothing more than some freedom. Even if only for the holiday.

I guess saying I hated it all would be pretty harsh.

It was more along the lines of being disappointed that nothing exciting ever happened. No major events, no unexpected occurrences, not even scandal or two. Luckily I only had one year left and then I would go as far away as possible. Not that I was even sure where that would be.

I walked past all the students starting their cars and began my long trot home. It was quite pathetic actually; I was already seventeen, but my parents wouldn't even consider letting me drive the car on my own. Something about public safety, I tended to stop listening once the lectures started.

Of course, I hadn't given up hope. The day would come when I, Chihiro Ogino, would be allowed to drive my own car without my mother sitting next to me, restraining herself from jumping over and grabbing the wheel. But until that day came, I was stuck walking home to our azure blue house on the top of the hill.

I guess it wasn't that bad. Thanks to that hill, I could at least wear a bikini without having to squirm for cover whenever some guy happens to look my way, which didn't often happen.

But hey, a girl could dream, couldn't she?

Back when I was about ten years old, I used to be dainty and scared of everything. New situations made me uncomfortable. But spending a few days in another world tends to change your perspective on some things.

Of course, this only played a minor role in the transformation I had around the age of thirteen when I started to think stuffed animals where for girly-girls and I fell in love with my first pair of ripped jeans. My parents never really understood why this happened. They tried very hard to convince me that I only had one identity and that I didn't want to give people the wrong idea about me. After none of these attempts succeeded they tried sending me to a friend of theirs that had a degree in psychology, but head-games have never really worked for me either.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not some kind of gothic chick or a tom-boy, not in the least. I simply choose to wear leggings rather than a skirt so short that people could see my butt cheeks.

Since it felt like the sun was trying to burn away my top layer of skin, I decided on an outfit that comprised of plain shorts and a V-neck shirt. My hair, which had grown out quite a lot, fell all the way down to the middle of my back where it started to curl slightly. No matter what I did, or how many times I straighten it, the curls just came back.

After about twenty minutes of walking, I finally reached the front gate of our house.  The walls, still painted teal, almost merged into the line of trees that signalled the beginning of the massive expanse of forest.  Most people that have seen our house assumed we were rich, and even though my dad made a large amount of money through sales, the house was quite small on the inside.

"I'm home!" I yelled once I had put my bad down on the kitchen table.

This action in itself was a huge waste of air since there was no one home this early. Even if there was, they would be so busy with what-not that they most likely wouldn't reply in any case.

Ever since my personality had changed so drastically, my relationship with my parents took a turn for the worse. It felt as though they had never truly accepted who I had become and that they probably wished to have their little girl back. No matter what I did to prove I was still me, they still couldn't see it.

Grabbing a can of soda from the fridge, I walked out onto the porch.

If there were two things I didn't hate in this town, it was the view of the ocean, and woods that stretched out like a green blanket next to our house. My parents strictly forbade me from entering the woods alone since I had gotten lost in them after moving.

If only they knew the reason I had been in the woods in the first place.

Even though I appreciated that my parents only wanted what was best for me, I would still go jogging in the woods whenever they were not home- like after school.

Tossing the can in the bin on my way upstairs, I grabbed my phone. I had forgotten on the kitchen table before I went to school earlier in the day. I took the stairs two, if not three, at a time and made it to my room in 30-seconds flat. No surprise, there were no new messages. 

My room was actually very dull, with only the basics that a room needed. A queen-sized bed had been stuffed in the corner with a bedside table next to it. Across from my bed, I had a desk with all things school related stacked on it; a problem for another hour or lifetime, of course. A small walk-in closet, which I practically had to bolt shut because of the number of clothes waiting to avalanche down on me every time I had to get something to wear, was located next to my door. Luckily I had pulled out training clothes before I left for school that morning.

The only thing in my room that I truly treasured was the old piano. It was almost in desperate need of a tuning; something I would have to pay with my own money most likely. My skills on the piano were good, even if I had to say so myself. And my voice wasn't half bad either.

Not that anyone knew this of course.

I grabbed my things and dressed as quickly as I could, not wanting to take the chance of my parent getting home early. Ten minutes later I was standing in front of the hiking trail that led straight to the heart of the woods.

Cranking my music up until I could hear nothing other than my hour long mix, I started to jog down the path. Since I already loved the woods, simply adding music meant that I was almost in heaven.

To tell the truth, it was the closest I ever felt to the spirit world... and him.

Of course, I gave up on getting back a long time ago. Not that I hadn't tried.

For about one year after returning, I had begged my parents to take me back to the entrance of what my father had wrongly assumed was an old amusement park building. Only, on the other side, there would be nothing other than woods and more woods.

After the pain of not being able to go back had started to fade away, I had almost started to believe that all of the things that had happened were simply a big dream. That the purple hair tie I treasured was something I had picked up.

Until the day I had gotten lost in the woods.

It had been a very cold day, but I hadn't noticed the grey sky and the wind tearing through the land almost as if trying to force people to stay inside their homes. This also happens to be the day that I had found the hiking trail that became my usual route.

Walking as fast as my little legs could carry me, I followed the path until there was a fork in the road. Like they say, I took the road less travelled, not knowing that those words were supposed to be taken metaphorically and not literally.

The road continued to head steadily downhill until the path suddenly stopped in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't even I hint that the path had ever continued further. But when you're as curious as I was, then those things tended not to stop you, so I started moving through the undergrowth of the woods, once again failing to notice the loud roar that started overhead.

It wasn't until large drops of rain had started to fall from the heavens that I realized it was time to turn around and head back. That wouldn't have been a problem if only I had been able to recall the way home.

Turning around in circles, I had tried hard to remember which way I had come, but my attempts were futile. That left me with only one option- find shelter for the duration of the raging storm. The idea was soothing considering the alternative was reliving Titanic once it started raining properly.

Cautiously, I had started walking the path I had been following, taking care not to fall over roots and rocks. After a few minutes, the rain had started to get worse, the ground beneath my feet turning into mud.

Another twenty minutes of carefully balancing on rocks and roots to avoid the mud had passed and finally, I saw my salvation- a little rock ledge with branches hanging so low that the rock beneath it was dry enough for me to sit on.

Unfortunately, I had been so excited about this place to rest that I threw all caution to the wind when I practically sprinted to the shelter. A few feet away from my destination I had slipped, a slip that sent me careering down a hill I had been so carefully avoiding.

To this day I'm still not sure what exactly happened from that moment on, but I was sure that while I was lying motionless at the bottom of the hill, I saw a figure hunching over me and picking me up, but that's where I passed out. When I had woken up, I was in my bed with both my parents leaning over my, waiting for me to open my eyes.

Apparently, they had found me lying on the porch, covered in mud, a small cut on my head from where I must have bumped it. I told them about the person who had helped me, but they said it was all in my mind.

It took me a while to realize that it had to have been him, who else could it be? But then again, why would he have just left me on the porch? I was already mad at him for breaking his promise of finding me again, and if it was him, then I was also mad at him for leaving me behind and not taking me back.

Nevertheless, back to the present.

I took care not to jog the wrong way as I wove through the undergrowth and over fallen branches.

I truly loved those woods.

I passed the rock I used for those days where they jog became too much and I needed to rest.

Most people would avoid places where their lives possibly could have ended, but that's not how I see my experience with the slip. To me, it was an encounter that I treasured, even if it did leave me angry for a while after it happened.

My jog ended much quicker than I hoped it would and before I knew it, I was standing on the back porch. I took off my muddy shoes and left them on there as I entered the house. There would be more than enough time to clean them before my parents got home.

Desperately, I pleaded with my numb legs to just make it up the stairs and into the bathroom. I would give them their long awaited shave as a reward, maybe even put on some of the sweet smelling cream that I never used.

They seemed to hear my silent prayer and started to drag me up the stairs until I was standing in front of the shower in my bathroom. Throwing my dirty clothes into the washing bin, I turned the taps, letting the water flow for a few seconds while I untied my hair and pulled a brush through it to calm the curls.

The shower was just what I needed and like the run, it was over faster than I had bargained for, but I had to get my shoes before my parents came home and discovered them. I knew I would never be allowed near the woods again if they were to be discovered; my parents would most likely ask our annoying neighbor to check up on me whenever they were at work.

The lady next door, Orihime (or the Hag as I called her), was old and nasty. She believed that all children were delinquents and she claims that's the reason why she never had any of her own. I believe it's because no man on earth would even consider touching her with a five-foot pole in fear of melting.

But of course, my parents believe she is as saint sent from heaven above, a true blessing that has been bestowed upon us.

Pulling a towel around my naked body, I walked back to my room.

Luckily my parents still weren't home so I didn't have to worry about one of them seeing me half naked, dripping water all the way down the hall.

I put on my favourite pair of pyjamas, which I had to wrestle out of my closet, and went over to my laptop to check if I had any mail. The big fat zero indicated that there was none of the sort.

Going over to the piano I pulled some sheet music from the stack of papers next to it and placed it in front of me as I sat down on the tiny bench. The piece's name was "River flows in you" by Yiruma. I knew the only reason I loved it so much was because it reminded me of the spirit world and especially of him.

Silly right?

Once my fingers started to move over the notes it was like time stood still and everything came to an abrupt halt around me. The music played around me and die melody went straight to my soul.

The piece wasn't very hard and most people found it extremely annoying, but it was that quality that made the song sound like and actual river. It was easy to get lost in. It was so cliché that I might as well have put on a short skirt and called myself normal, but at least that would never happen.

I got so caught up in the beautiful sound of the piano that I hadn't heard the deathly sound of the front door opening and closing. It wasn't until my mother and father where standing in my room, not looking all that happy, that I realised they were back from work.

Two thoughts popped in my mind: first, I wondered what I was in trouble for this time. Secondly, I realized that if they had gone through the trouble to come and scold me together then it had to be something big.

Racking my brain, I tried to think of all the things they could have found out about, but came up blank. 

Until I saw my muddy shoes dangling from my father's finger tips.

Shit. I had completely  forgotten about them.

"Mom. Dad, what a pleasant surprise," I said meekly, knowing that no amount of grovelling would get me out of this one. Not that I would ever grovel, there had to be some standards right?

"We had one rule, Chihiro, one rule, and that was that you are not allowed to go into the woods on your own. Don't tell me you've already forgotten the reason for this rule is?" my mother demanded, a deathly tone coming from her slightly parted lips. A clear warning that one snippy answer would lead to severe punishment.

I pushed my bangs behind my ears and looked anywhere else other than my parents who were practically steaming by the ears.

"No mom, I haven't forgotten the reason," I admitted. Nothing else could make it past my lips.

"Then why? Why would you blatantly disregard our rules?" my mother continued.

I remained silent.

"Please tell us what's been going on the past few years? Tell us so that we can help you," my dad added after the brief awkward silence.

All this statement did was make me furious. They made it sound like I had some mental disorder, or that maybe I was doing all these things just to make them crazy, since that's exactly what delinquents do.

The silence grew, filling the air like a stench that wouldn't go away. It seemed to go on forever until my mother finally spoke up again.

"So that's all you have to say? That you broke the rules knowing that it was not allowed? What are we going to do with you?"

I was barely paying attention at this point in the conversation, because I knew that the end result would be me being grounded for the rest of my teenage years. I didn't even have the energy to get mad at them, I was just numb from trying to explain to them that I wasn't going crazy or planning to rob a store or something.

I was done.

"Seeing as were already fighting, I think it's time that we discuss something your father and I have been talking about for a while now," my mother said.

Now this got my attention.

"Honey, I don't think now is the appropriate time to tell her-" my father tried to get out, but my mother interrupted

"No. Now is as good a time as any other."

My father let out a sigh and took a step back.

"Chihiro, we have been trying to think of ways to get things back to the way they use to be. Back to when we could still talk to you and to things as a family." She paused.

The air seemed to grow thick with anticipation and my heart was racing at the speed of light.

"We decided that the best thing for all of us at this moment would be..." she started and stopped again.

I almost wanted to exclaim, "come on with it already!"

But I didn't, instead I braced myself, wondering what it would be this time. Juvi? Boarding School? Living with Orihime for a short while?

"Chihiro, we're moving."